Betsy Ross

Worksheets
 Free Sample
Thank you so much for downloading the sample resource.

We hope it has been useful for you in the classroom and that your
students enjoy the activities.

KidsKonnect is a very small family run business and we are proud

that we can offer education to over 40 countries globally. The more
support we have from our Premium members the more resources
we can release.

If you want the more comprehensive and detailed worksheet

collection then please upgrade to our Premium plan and support
our quest to make education affordable for all.

Don’t forget to come back and download the new material we add
every week!

Thanks for supporting KidsKonnect. We can provide teachers with

low-cost, high-quality teaching resources because of our loyal
subscribers and hope to serve you for many years to come.

- The Entire KidsKonnect Team :)

 Betsy Ross Facts

Betsy Ross, born Elizabeth Griscom, was an American seamstress who,

according to stories passed on from generation to generation, was
credited for designing the first flag of the United States.

EARLY LIFE, FAMILY, AND EDUCATION

★ Betsy Ross was born Elizabeth Griscom on January 1, 1752 in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
★ She was born the eighth of seventeen children of Samuel Griscom
and Rebecca James Griscom.
★ The Griscom family had firm Quaker roots.
★ Her great-grandfather, Andrew Griscom was a Quaker who emigrated
in 1680 from England to New Jersey.
KIDSKONNECT.COM
 Betsy Ross Facts
★ Andrew Griscom was a
respected carpenter. His
name can be found
inscribed in the Carpenters'
Hall in Philadelphia.
★ Betsy’s father, Samuel,
helped in the construction of
the bell tower at the
Pennsylvania State House.
★ His mother, Rebecca, came
from a well-known Quaker
family. The Pennsylvania State House

★ Betsy grew up in a home where Quaker beliefs and discipline were

strictly enforced.
★ She also received Quaker education at a Quaker state-run school,
where she learned how to write, read, and acquire technical skills,
particularly sewing.
★ Once she completed her schooling, she began to apprentice to an
upholsterer in town named William Webster.
★ During that time, the job of an upholsterer included sewing.

MEETING JOHN ROSS

★ During her apprenticeship, Betsy met John Ross, the son of an

Episcopal priest, and fell in love with him.
★ Quakers did not approve of marrying people from other
denominations, so the couple eloped in 1773.
★ They married in Gloucester City, New Jersey.
★ Consequently, Betsy was expelled from the Quaker congregation and
her family.
KIDSKONNECT.COM
 Betsy Ross Facts
★ From being apprentices, Betsy and
John started their own upholstery
business.
★ They had no children.
★ After being expelled from the
Quaker community, Betsy joined
Christ Church, John’s congregation.
★ One of their fellow congregants was
George Washington, who at the
time just became America's
commander in chief. George Washington

BECOMING WIDOWED
★ Betsy and John had only been married for a couple of years before
the American Revolutionary War broke out.
★ John joined the provincial militia of Pennsylvania and died in 1775.
★ After becoming widowed, Betsy continued working in their
upholstery business.
★ She made and repaired upholstery for the Continental Army, such as
uniforms, blankets, and tents. She also sewed paper tube cartridges
for prepared packaged ammunition.
★ She also remarried twice after John Ross died, and had two
daughters with her second husband Joseph Ashburn, and five
daughters with her third husband John Claypoole.

KIDSKONNECT.COM
 Betsy Ross Facts
MAKING OF THE AMERICAN FLAG

★ Back in the day, upholsterers were the ones who usually made flags.
★ Despite disputes against Betsy Ross having made the American flag,
oral history points to that story being true.
★ According to Betsy, she met with George Washington, George Ross,
and Robert Morris in late May or early June of 1776.
★ The Flag Committee of the Continental Congress hired Betsy to sew
the first American flag.
★ While there are many oral accounts that exist about this, no actual
flag created by Betsy Ross has been found.

THE BETSY ROSS DESIGN

★ There may be no consensus about the design of the first American
flag, but according to legend, the most important elements are the
stars, the stripes, the circle, and the colors.
★ Betsy Ross used five-pointed stars instead of six-pointed ones.
★ The stars were in a circle so that colonies would be viewed equal
with one another.
★ George Washington reportedly said, "Let the 13 stars in a circle stand
as a new constellation in the heavens."
★ Stripes were already mainly included in American flag designs even
before the design of Betsy Ross, particularly in the Sons of Liberty
flag produced in 1765.

Betsy Ross design of the US Flag

KIDSKONNECT.COM
 Betsy Ross Facts
★ The stripes are collectively known as the “rebellious stripes” as they
were a symbol of revolutionary spirit.
★ As for the colors used in the
flag, Charles Thomson says it
best in a his 1782 report to
Congress on the Great Seal of
the United States: "The colours
of the pales are those used in
the flag of the United States of
America. White signifies purity
and innocence. Red hardiness
and valour and Blue the colour
of the Chief signifies vigilance Certificate of the American Flag
perseverance and justice." House and Betsy Ross Memorial
Association, issued 1912

DEATH AND LEGACY

★ She continued working on their upholstery business until her

retirement in 1827.
★ She spent her retirement years with her daughter Susannah in
Abington, Pennsylvania.
★ Betsy Ross died at age 84 on January 30, 1836.
★ A bridge across the Delaware River linking Philadelphia and New
Jersey is named the Betsy Ross Bridge.
★ Biographer Marla Miller argues that Ross' legacy should not be about
a single flag, but rather because of what her story tells us about
working women and men during the American Revolution.
★ To commemorate her birth anniversary, the U.S. Post Office issued a
Betsy Ross 200th Anniversary postage stamp on January 1, 1952.
KIDSKONNECT.COM
Name: ______________

Flag Match
The American flag underwent a ton of designs before
it became the current one we use now. Match the
name of the flag with its correct design.

GRAND UNION
FLAG

THE FIRST FLAG

OF THE EAST
INDIA COMPANY

THE
STAR-SPANGLED
BANNER

BATTLE OF
BENNINGTON
FLAG

THE CURRENT
VERSION OF THE
AMERICAN FLAG

BETSY ROSS WORKSHEETS KIDSKONNECT.COM

Name: ______________

Flag Match
ANSWER KEY

GRAND UNION
FLAG

THE FIRST FLAG

OF THE EAST
INDIA COMPANY

THE
STAR-SPANGLED
BANNER

BATTLE OF
BENNINGTON
FLAG

THE CURRENT
VERSION OF THE
AMERICAN FLAG

BETSY ROSS WORKSHEETS KIDSKONNECT.COM

 Copyright Notice
This resource is licensed under the Creative Commons
Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International license.

You are free to:

● Share — copy and redistribute the material in any

medium or format
● Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material

Under the following terms:

● Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide

a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made.
You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in
any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or
your use.
● NonCommercial — You may not use the material for
commercial purposes.

For more information on this license, visit the following link:

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

Where possible, free-use images are sourced from online

repositories such as Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons.
References and sources for images are provided in the
speaker notes section of this document.

Thank you!

KIDSKONNECT.COM